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Unitarian Samsonism
Summary Unitarian Samsonism is the Oldest religion in the Samso-Paternalist branch of Elgenean religions. It was unofficially founded by St. Leopold at the birth of Samson the Great, the event which marks the beginning of the Imperial Calendar. The Paternalist population of the Heartlands had conducted large sacrifices to the Paternal spirits, the All-Father and All-Mother, in the hopes that they would wipe our their Mokosh overlords. When Samson the Great came of age and was eventually made Bannerlord at the age of 20, he successfully united the Heartlander tribes into a confederation and expelled the Mokosh from Eastern Elgenea. Samson continued to lead the Muddites through several other wars, and eventually created a strong pact between the many tribes of Eastern Elgenea, marrying the princess of Pfilstein and establishing defensive alliances with the other tribes. At the age of 64, Samson, his wife Helene, and their son Konrad all vanished from Muddah without a trace. This threw the heartlands into chaos until, in 120 AS, a young man, bearing Samson's name and resemblance, gathered support to press his claim as the new King of the Heartlands. St. Alger was among his supporters and had declared the title of "Bannerlord" to be only worthy of Samson the Great, making the leaders that followed Samson the Great all illegitimate. This young man became Kaiser Samson I, and his ascension to the throne of the Heartlands enshrined the new Samsonling dynasty with a divine-birthright, and the various followers of Samson I eventually started holding him and his children as continuations of the Great Bannerlord's spirit. "Unitarians" as they came to be known, believed that the spirit of the Bannerlord and both of the Paternal Spirits merged into a single vessel: Samson the Great, and that his heirs who took the title of Kaiser were divinely chosen to rule and were themselves the embodiment of the "Holy Unity." Conflict with Trinitarians Trinitarians, who believed that Samson the Great was a divine creation of the Paternal Spirits, rather than the merger of their own spirits, rejected the idea that the Samsonling Dynasty had a divine right to rule and instead believed that the Paternal Spirits still maintained their old covenant with mankind. The Right to Rule, per Trinitarian belief, was guaranteed by the Paternal Spirits only if a ruler was just, and brought prosperity for his people. As successive Samsonling Monarchs began to become more and more consumed by the idea that their rule was ordained by a higher power, they began causing abuses to several different minority groups throughout the Empire's history, especially Trinitarians. These abuses reached their peak in the Reign of Samson X. Samson X's reign began when his sister assisted him in assassinating all of their older siblings, and from that point continued along a path of violence toward those he considered Rivals. By the time he had come of age, he had become consumed by a desire to eradicate the other faiths in the Empire, for fear that they might rise up to overthrow him. This led to the invasion en-masse of the East Outlands, razing outlander settlements and relocating them all across his Empire, and further to the attack of the various "Heretic" religions, the Paternalists, Trinitarians, and Lycurgists. Trinitarians, from that point, became starkly anti-monarchist, and in many cases migrated to other well-off nations, especially Eslor. Beliefs & Practices All Samsonist denominations have maintained most of the previous beliefs and practices from old Paternalism. They unilaterally believe in an Afterlife, which accepts and rejects souls based on the amount of good or evil they caused in their life. They also all celebrate the Erlössungstag on December 1st, in commemoration of the liberation from the Mokosh. The Six Sins of Man Unitarians believe in six sins which immediately condemn a soul to rejection from heaven. In increasing order of magnitude, they are: # Envy # Sloth # Wrath # Theft # Greed (Excess) # Betrayal The severity of Greed in the hierarchy stems from the early Heartlander traditions of temperance, due to the harsh winters the region faced which made resource scarcity much more dangerous. Hoarding materials from the tribe could result in the death of fellow tribesmen, and as such greedy lifestyles are immensely taboo in the Samsonist faith. This is one of the objections that Trinitarians hold toward the Kaiser and Nobility, as they believe that Excess is a definite term, while Unitarians believe that excess is a relative term based on the prosperity of one's society. Category:Religions